Riaz Amin

Riaz Amin (Bengali: রিয়াজ আমিন; born 27 February 1998) is an English martial artist who practices Shotokan Karate and Filipino Martial Arts. He is the current World Escrima-Kalis-Arnis Federation (WEKAF) World Championships world champion.

Riaz Amin
BornTower Hamlets, London, England
Native nameরিয়াজ আমিন
NationalityEnglish
StyleShotokan Karate, Filipino Martial Arts, Stick-fighting
Fighting out ofTower Hamlets, London, England
TeamEngland Karate Squad
TrainerShamim Haque, Abjol Miah, Alton Brown, Joe Anderson, Raphael Veras
Rank  1st Dan Black Belt in Shotokan Karate
Years active2005–present
OccupationMartial artist
Notable club(s)Toyakwai Karate Association, FMA Academy/Kalis Illustrimo
Websiteriazamin.co.uk

Early life

Amin was born in Tower Hamlets, London, England[1][2] and is a third generation British Bangladeshi.[3] He attended Coopers' Company and Coborn School.[4]

Martial arts career

At the age of five, Amin started martial arts in Shotokan Karate with Alton Brown (2nd Dan) and Joe Anderson (7th Dan) of Toyakwai Karate Association. He then started competing at local, national and international competitions. He won various gold medals such as The English Open and Southern Regional Championships. At the age of 11, he achieved his 1st Dan black belt. At the age of 13, he started learning Filipino Martial Arts (FMA) at the FMA Academy under Shamim Haque and Abjol Miah. Haque teaches Amin the deadly blade art 'Kalis Ilustrisimo'.[1][2][5]

Since starting karate, Amin has competed in many major competitions. In 2008, he took Gold, Silver and Bronze in the Malta Four Nations International Open Championship organised by SKSM Karate Malta, and came 4th in the Funakoshi World Championships. In 2009, he won Gold in the European Karate Federation (EKF) International, Essex Grand National Open Championship and Capital Open Championship.[6]

On 2 December 2012, at the age of 14, Amin entered his first full contact tournament at the British World Escrima-Kalis-Arnis Federation (WEKAF) Tournament and became the Single Stick Cadet fighter of the day British champion.[1][2]

In July 2014, Amin became a Cadet's squad member for Great Britain and was given the opportunity to compete in the WEKAF World Championships in Budapest, Hungary. The fighting style encompasses many forms and is based around the Filipino martial-arts based system, and he was involved in hand-to-hand combat. He entered three events, the double, single and soft stick/first strike, and won medals in each category. He beat a Hungarian opponent in the final to become the world champion.[1][2][7][8][9]

From 2005 to 2014, he has fought in more than 50 tournaments. He now trains in karate under Alton Brown, Raphael Veras and others from the England Karate Squad.[6]

In September 2014, Amin was interviewed by Nadia Ali on BBC Asian Network.[10]

Honours
Year Event Venue Result
The English Open Gold
Southern Regional Championships
2008 Malta Four Nations International Championship Dingli, Malta Gold, Silver and Bronze
Funakoshi World Championships Birmingham, England 4th
2009 European Karate Federation International Sheffield, England Gold
Essex Grand National Open Championship Essex, England
Capital Open Championship
2012 World Escrima-Kalis-Arnis Federation British Open Championships Gillingham, Kent Single Stick Cadet fighter of the day British champion
2014 World Escrima-Kalis-Arnis Federation World Championships Budapest, Hungary World champion

See also

References
  1. Rahman, Emdad (August 2014). "Riaz Amin becomes WEKAF world champion". GiveMeSport. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  2. Rahman, Emdad (24 August 2014). "Riaz becomes World Champion". London: East London News. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  3. "The History of KarateKAy". KarateKAy. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  4. Power, Lee (23 January 2014). "School Sport: Coopers hail award winners". Romford: Romford Recorder. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  5. Gupta, Simi (23 July 2014). "Giving It Some Stick". Asiana.tv. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  6. Ahmed Ullah, Ansar (28 June 2014). "Riaz Amin to fight in World Championships – Hungary". GBNEWS24. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  7. "It's just champion as Riaz strikes gold in Hungary – and there's silver and bronze too!". London: Docklands and East London Advertiser. 14 August 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  8. Harvey, Josh (October 2014). "Raiz Amin – World Champion". Martial Arts Magazine. pp. 45–47. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  9. "GB Squad for Hungary World Championships 2014". WEKAF Great Britain. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  10. "Riaz Amin". BBC Asian Network. 1 September 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
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